Articles and coverage

Links to Nursing Now talks, articles, media coverage and more.

Written by one of the co-authors of the WISH Report on Nursing and Universal Health Coverage, this article argues that Kenya will not achieve its target unless more investment is made in the health workforce.

“There are three simple ways Kenya can build on the existing workforce and achieve its goal of UHC: Kenya could usefully adopt a strategy that combines investment in the workforce with changes in service delivery and practice.”

Written by Nursing Now Chair, Lord Nigel Crisp, and World Health Organisation Chief Nursing Officer, Elizabeth Iro, the article argues that investment in nursing and midwifery is key to the success of Primary Health Care. Its publication coincides with the Global Conference on Primary Health Care in Astana, where world leaders are meeting to discuss Primary Health Care and celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Alma Ata Declaration.

“In many parts of the world, nurses are the first, and sometimes the only, health professional that patients see. They work close to the community, are able to understand local culture, and influence behaviour.”

Coinciding with the Global Conference on Primary Health Care in Astana, Kazakhstan, this piece discusses why nurses must be at the centre of this century’s health care revolution.

“The ICN, working with the Nursing Now campaign, has been advising on and shaping the agenda for [the Global Conference on Primary Healthcare]. We know nurses sit at the centre of the revolution which is required if we are to successfully meet the global health challenges we face.“

Advocating for a new era for nursing, this piece draws on current social and economic movements across the world, including #MeToo. The author, Jane Salvage, is an independent nursing consultant. The article is published in both Portuguese and English.

“For too long nurses have been invisible, uncounted, undervalued and silenced. Now is the moment to find our individual and collective voices: not just #MeToo but also #NursesToo, and Nursing Now!”

Written by Paul De Raeve, Secretary General, and Elisabeth Adams, President of the European Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN), this article discusses why nurses are leaving the profession across Europe and how we must invest in nursing to save health systems across the continent.

“Therefore, the answer to the question “Why do we keep failing to have ‘enough nurses’?” is simple: “Because we keep undervaluing the importance of nurses’ contributions.”

To mark the 70th Anniversary of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), Lord Crisp argues that empowering nurses will be the key to maintaining the NHS the next 70 years.

“Looking forward, I believe nurses will play an even more important role as diseases change and with them our needs and expectations. Empowering nurses will be key to a sustainable, high-quality and caring health system.”

Annette Kennedy, President of the International Council of Nurses, explains why the world must be better prepared to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and how nurses will be at the centre of that fight.

“No other health professionals are closer to communities than nurses, who lead on the frontlines of care, doing all they can for those in need. With their person-centered approach to care, nurses instinctively put the needs of populations first, not just in a headline-grabbing crisis but also in those that unfold slowly behind-the-scenes, such as NCDs.”

Written by Lord Crisp, Co-Chair of the Board of Nursing Now, this article argues that medicine is enhanced when nurses are given more responsibility and recognition. In the article, Lord Crisp writes:

“It is for these reasons that I and colleagues have launched Nursing Now, a global campaign to improve health by raising the profile and status of nursing. The fact that within only two months we now have Nursing Now groups active in 40 countries suggests that we have caught a tide and have got our timing right”

Dr Cipriano explains the founding principles of the Nursing Now campaign, and makes comparisons between the goals of the campaign and the recommendations which came out of the US-focussed report by the Institute of Medicine entitled The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.

“U.S. nurses are not alone in our quest to be a prom­inent voice at all tables in determining how to best shape and deliver healthcare.”

This article covers the 6th Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, which served for the backdrop of one of the launches of Nursing Now.

The conference also served as the backdrop to the unveiling of the Nursing Now campaign, a three-year initiative run in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and the International Council of Nurses that seeks to empower nurses, enhancing their influence and maximising their contribution to healthcare delivery.

Written by Professor Judith Ellis, a nurse and the Chair of Trustees at THET, this article explores why the goal of Universal Health Coverage cannot be achieved with strengthening nursing globally. She writes:

“As a nurse myself, I celebrate such positive moves from the global health arena. But the shortfalls in both the numbers and the influence nurse’s and midwives face around the world is still an all too familiar reality. That is why as Chair of Trustees at THET I am proud that we are supporting the new Nursing Now! Campaign which launched just a week ago.”